


A Path Through Time

by Killing_Reality



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Action, Adventure, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-31
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-09 21:18:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3264671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killing_Reality/pseuds/Killing_Reality
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Himura Kenshin falls down a well during a fight with Hajime Saito he finds himself in the past and greeted by a strange girl and a half demon. How will the Battousai fair in the past?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Fall Through Time

“So we meet again, Himura Battousai” came a snarled voice from a dark alley, shuffled steps followed the sound until a tall dark haired male stood before smaller red haired swordsman.

“Saito” Came Battousai’s response before he jumped away from the Shinsengumi captain and moved his hand towards his sword hilt but did not draw, not yet. Saito’s golden eyes glimmered with barely contained excitement as he slowly drew his Katana and lowered himself into a fighting stance keeping his eyes locked with the Hitokiri’s in front of him.

They both remained still for a long moment before Saito moved his sword, but didn't attack at first, he instead positioned it for his famed gatotsu strike.

Battousai’s eyes widened slightly as he took in the stance then without given an opportunity to think he drew his own sword at last using his battoujutsu technique and just barely evaded Saito’s initial attack but he didn't have long to recover, Saito quickly advanced with a slash, aiming for Battousai’s briefly exposed side but the Hitokiri had predicted such a move and jumped upwards and high into the sky to perform his Ryutsuisen but Saito moved away at the last second, without a second thought Battousai gave chase and sent a slash towards Saito’s head but was blocked and pushed back.

They continued blocking and parrying until they were both out of breath but they still did not release or sheath their swords, Saito smirked before he once again positioned himself for gatotsu, Battousai merely readied himself. 

Saito surged forward rapidly and Battousai stepped backwards and to the side to dodge the attack, he was about to retaliate with his own but he was no longer stood on the ground, and realised he was falling, he looked up and saw that he had fallen down a well, as he kept falling his vision began to fade before he was unconscious.

 

“I’ll be back soon Inuyasha you know that, just three days as usual” A dark haired teen was saying cheerfully, a yellow rucksack on her back.

“It’s not the time to be going at all! We need to find Naraku! He’s getting stronger every day.” Came an angered voice, owned by a half demon wearing a red kimono, he had long silver hair which was adorned by small dog ears.

“Oh please, that’s a given, but it’s not like we haven’t been looking for him every day! I need to get back and study for my test! I’m doing terrible in history! And if I don’t pass this test I can’t get into high school!”

“That’s why I said you should give up with this school thing. It’s not getting you anywhere apart from further from Naraku!”

“Inuyasha!”

“Wait no Kagome! I’m Sorry!” Came a now overly apologetic and desperate voice

“SIT!"

"Argh" 

"Now I’ll be three days, leave me alone until I come back!” The black haired teen said angered and stormed off towards the familiar well which linked her back to her own time. Unaware that something had caught Inuyasha’s attention.

“Wait Kagome!”

“What now Inuyasha?” Kagome asked annoyed but once she saw the concern in Inuyasha’s yellow orbs she soon started to worry. “What is it Inuyasha?”

“It’s a new scent, but it’s coming from the well” Before Kagome could ask anymore Inuyasha leaped towards the well and cautiously looked down, he frowned in confusion but didn't make any other movements. Kagome slowly walked up next to him and looked down too, she gasped in surprise as she saw a young male lying at the bottom of the well, a sword lying discarded next to him and a cross shaped scar adorning his left cheek.

“He looks like a Samurai. Do you think he’s alright?” Kagome asked casually but Inuyasha was still not responding. “Inuyasha?”

“He doesn't smell from here.” He simply stated not taking his eyes of the youth in the well.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t think that he’s from this time.”

“You mean, that he’s like me? But he doesn’t look from my time either. I wonder what’s happening.”

‘He’s definitely from the past, he doesn’t seem to be from this time, maybe he’s not too far from my time. Argh I knew I should have studied more in history, then I might have at least some idea.’ Kagome was snapped out of her thought when she saw the man start to stir. Without thinking she grabbed Inuyasha and ducked out of sight.

“What are you doing?!” Inuyasha yelled in a whisper.

“I don’t know! I don’t know what to do about this! We should help him!”

“Then why are you hiding?!”

“I don’t know”

“Who’s up there?!”

Kagome and Inuyasha froze when they heard the voice carry up the well.

“You stay here” Kagome said “He might not have seen a demon before, he could react badly and I've got a strange feeling about this guy.”

“That makes two of us.” Inuyasha grumbled quietly as he watched Kagome poke her head back over the well.

Initially she was surprised, he looked very young to be a samurai, older than her of course, or maybe of similar age, she couldn't tell from the distance. But his eyes were those of a killer, and she could tell that he had killed plenty.

“My name is Kagome. Do you know where you are?” She called down.

“Of course, I am in Kyoto!”

Before Kagome could ask anything else he suddenly jumped and bounced from once side of the wall to the other before he swiftly landed outside the well in front of the two. He looked at the two quickly before his eyes widened in shock and he drew his sword.

“Ahh, definitely haven’t seen a demon before.” Kagome said as she shrunk away from the gleaming blade in front of her. 

“What are you talking about? What are those strange clothes you are wearing? Why is there a demon before me?! Where am I? Who are you?!” The young male asked, his voice getting louder and more threatening.

Battousai was confused, he was looking at a male that looked to be a demon and a girl that was wearing strange clothes and the land was unrecognisable. He looked to the girl again, she had fear and concern etched on her face and looked to the demon who had now drawn his own sword which was considerably larger and seemed to be made of some strange type of metal.

“Please, calm down. I know you are confused, but I can at least try and explain. But please put your sword away.” Battousai’s amber eyes flicked back to the girl who had daringly taken a step towards him. “Same for you Inuyasha, put the Tetsusaiga away, you’ll make him nervous.” Inuyasha looked to Kagome for a second in which she nodded encouragingly before he locked his amber eyes with the man in front of him.

Slowly and reluctantly Battousai put away his sword, but kept his hand near it in case he needed it.

“Okay, that’s a good start. Now as I said before my name is Kagome, this is Inuyasha, he’s a half demon. My clothes are strange because I’m from a different time period. Which I think you are too. I’m probably from your future, and Inuyasha belongs here in the time period we are in now, which is probably your past.”

Battousai remained silent for a long moment before he looked between the two repeatedly.

“How far into the past?” He asked in a whisper, the previous killing tone in his voice almost gone, instead replaced by something else, Kagome could only think of it as concern, underlined with confusion and possibly panic.

“I couldn't say for certain without knowing with time period you came from.” She said carefully trying to gauge some form of emotion out of the young males face but finding it unreadable.

“Well that is what we are fighting about at the moment, currently we are still in the Edo Tokugawa Shogunate”

“Ahh, that’s not too far away from my time, so you would be about 150 years behind me, I’m around 500 years ahead of Inuyasha, so that would make you around 350 years into your past.” Kagome said brightly but it gained no response from the young Samurai instead he seemed to tense and harden himself at the news. They were all silent for a long moment before Kagome got too uncomfortable. “So what is your name?” With the question the young man looked up again, his eyes no longer yellow but a soft lilac, although they were still narrowed into a harsh frown.

“Himura Battousai”

Kagome felt as if someone had thrown ice water on her as the blood in her veins turned cold at the name that had come at almost a whisper, but there was no denying the fear that came with it as her mind drifted back to the one thing she had paid attention to in her history lesson. 

\- ‘Himura Battousai, his more famed name was Hitokiri Battousai, for he was indeed a man-slayer, people had referred to him as a demon, well more specifically the demon of Kyoto. He played a major role during the Bakumatsu which as you should know from the previous lesson was near the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. First he was an assassin then continued as a skilled warrior, using his abilities he carved the way with his sword to create the Meiji era, and once he had, he disappeared completely. Never heard from again, no one knew if he had died or just went into hiding to live the rest of his life in peace.’ -

“Well.” Kagome started meekly suddenly losing her voice with the shock that had taken over her system. It’s not the end of the world, you should be able to go back your own time. I can whenever I like, just jump down the well again and you should be transported back.” She said trying to keep an encouraging smile on her face but she couldn't hide how suddenly terrified she was.

“Are you certain?” His voice clipped out, holding the youths gaze with his own stern one, eyes still narrowed and a harsh coldness to them.

“It works for me.” Kagome said keeping on her forced smile. Battousai had an inkling as to the reason of the sudden change in personality and haste to have him gone and simply lowered his piercing gaze. Inuyasha knew there was something wrong but didn't know what and just looked at her confused.

Felling slightly annoyed, but at the same time saddened about the sudden hostility he moved towards the well and without hesitating jumped down it, before he hit the bottom and didn't transport, he looked back up and saw that the girl and the demon were still there watching. Immediately angered he leapt back up and grabbed Kagome.

“It didn't work! You tricked me! I need to get back!” He shouted furiously, his eyes a glowing a violent and piercing yellow once again, suddenly he was shoved off and thrown to the ground, he recovered instantly and his eyes landed on the half demon who had once again drawn Tetsusaiga. Battousai moved his hand to the hilt of his katana and lowered his stance, locking eyes with Inuyasha.

“Inuyasha, don’t, he’s too skilled with the sword!” But Inuyasha just huffed and set off to attack, jumping high into the air and swinging Tetsusaiga down but Battousai had already moved out of harm’s way and had circled around to be behind Inuyasha.

“Fast aren't you?” He said as he swung the fang again to behind him, this time Battousai jumped high drawing his sword in a flash and attacked with his Ryutsuisen cutting Inuyasha from his shoulder across his torso. 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome shouted and ran towards the now still body of Inuyasha “Inuyasha!” She called again and felt the demon twitch from under her. Relieved that he was still moving she turned her gaze to Battousai who had just wiped his sword clean and returned it to its saya.

“There was no need for this! I don’t know why the well didn't work but it’s something we figure out! We don’t attack people for no reason! You really are a monster!”

Battousai was stunned, as if he was hit by the girls words, he looked at the scene in front of him, the girl crying, trying to wake the demon who was covered in blood from his wound which appeared to be slowly closing.

“I’m….Sorry….”


	2. Meetings

Kagome was stunned for a moment as she looked to the Hitokiri, he held his head down as if in apology and his fists were clenched at his sides with his arms shaking. Kagome was about to ask if he was okay but Inuyasha stirred once more and drew her attention back to him.

“Inuyasha, are you alright?” She asked as he slowly started to get up.

“Yeah I’m fine” He said, anger toning his voice as he glared at the young swordsman. He moved again and stood, wobbling slightly before Kagome placed her hands on him to steady him. He put a hand to his wound and pulled it away and saw the blood dripping on his hand. “If I was a normal human that would have killed me.” He stated, he didn’t sound angry, just surprised at the power of the man before him. He looked to Kagome who obviously knew something about him but he would have to wait until later before he could find out.

“I am sorry” came the voice again, he was still looking down and Inuyasha stared at him for a long moment before he moved again to pick up his sword. Seeing the demon move towards his weapon Kenshin’s sword arm twitched instinctively before he controlled it when Inuyasha put away his Tetsusaiga.

“Well it’s obvious that you are too used to battle to be able to stop yourself once you get going. But that isn’t a good thing to have around innocent people.” Inuyasha said sternly, glancing a look to Kagome. “But it wouldn’t be unhelpful against all the demons that we come across” He said before he started to walk off towards Kaede’s village. Kagome’s head flicked between the two of them before she settled on Battousai.

“That means it’s okay, and if you want, while you are trying to find a way back to your own time you could stay with us, we come across a few dangerous demons every so often so the help would be appreciated, also I’ll help you find a way back to your own time if no one else will.” Battousai was silent for a long moment, staring at the girl in surprise.

“I- Thank you, Kagome-Dono” He said and Kagome noticed for the first time that he seemed completely relieved as well as sincere, his eyes were wider and back to a soft lilac instead of the glaring yellow. 

“No problem, well we should at least get you to the village and introduce you to Sango, Shippo and Miroku.” Kagome said with a smile that was no longer forced and led the way back to the village trailing behind Inuyasha who was already so far ahead.

“So, you mentioned that he was a half demon?” The swordsman asked curiously, obviously having only heard of demons in stories he was unnerved to have been standing in front of one, and even fighting with one.

“Yeah, his father was a great dog demon, while his mother was a human. He has a brother but his mother was a full demon so of course they hate each other.” She said with a sigh, Battousai heard the sound and inquired further.

“Why is that?”

“I’m not entirely sure, I guess Sesshoumaru has always taken a disliking to his brother because he is a half demon, they are very disliked among other demons, as well as humans.”

“But even so, Inuyasha is his still his brother, and it isn’t by choice that he is a half demon, if this Sesshoumaru was to dislike anybody it would have to be his own father for choosing to be with a human.” Inuyasha had stopped as he heard the conversation between the two continue while Kagome was surprised at the sudden sense the warrior had spoken.

“I suppose you’re right” She said after a while. 

“That guy hates me because I was able to pick up Tetsusaiga and he wasn’t! Plus even if he didn’t have anything against me being a half demon we wouldn’t get along anyway because his personality!” Inuyasha stated angrily before he stormed off once again. Kagome just laughed as her and Battousai carried on walking.

“So I’m sure Himura Battousai isn’t your proper name. Do you think you could be able to tell me what it is?”

“You know it already don’t you?” Battousai asked, slightly annoyed as he knew that Kagome had heard of him and should have known his name already.

“I don’t, we’ve only just started learning about the war that you are currently in and they haven’t said your proper name, only Hitokiri Battousai, or Himura Battousai.” he didn’t respond for a while and just carried on walking in silence, noticing the dog demon glancing back at the two every so often.

“Kenshin…. Himura Kenshin.” Kagome smiled when he told her and nodded in response.

“Thank you.” She said.

They soon arrived at the village and entered Kaede’s hut, Sango and Miroku were startled to see Inuyasha injured and immediately made a move to take a look.

“Cool off It’s nothing! It’s already healing.”

“But Inuyasha, it’s such a deep wound, you should at least bandage it up.” Sango said caringly, Kagome took the cue to reach to the pile of bandages that were to one side and struggled with Inuyasha before he eventually relented and allowed her to bandage up his wound. With the commotion of Inuyasha’s injury Sango and Miroku had not noticed Kenshin entering the hut, he had silently slipped off his zori and sat down in a corner, keeping a grip on his sword.

“Who’s that?” Shippo asked loudly and everyone looked towards the warrior in the corner.

“That’s Himura Kenshin” Kagome said. “He’s going to be travelling with us for a while.” They were all quiet as they stared at him curiously. Sango was the first to snap out of it and went up towards him but still kept a fair distance while tentatively reaching out to shake his hand in greeting. 

“Hello, my name is Sango, I’m a demon slayer.” She said but the only response was a nod of acknowledgment, realising that was all she was getting she moved back over to Miroku and sat down.

“My name is Miroku. I’m a monk.” He said and got the same response.

“This is Shippo, he’s a fox demon” Kagome continued, and over there sleeping is Kaede, she’s the priestess and looks after this village we are in.

“If I could just ask, it may seem rude of me but you look like you could be a warrior, but look very young for it. Could I just ask your age?” Sango enquired curiously, and everyone was now staring at the small male in the corner of the room and he looked to be giving it some thought, as if he needed to remember how old he was.

“I’m seventeen” he stated. "I think" He mumbled out after but no one seemed to have heard. 

“Wow, I’m not sure if you get this a lot but, you look a lot younger, maybe around fourteen.” Kagome said.

But Kenshin didn’t respond again and stayed silent in the corner while the others looked around them nervously.

“Well I still need to get back for that test, you stay here Inuyasha, I don’t want you hurting yourself.”

With that Kagome left on her own leaving the others in an uncomfortable silence with the newcomer.

“Those were some crazy sword moves.” Inuyasha stated looking at Kenshin who lifted his head in response and noticed that the bandage was already starting to seep with the blood. “I’ve never seen any like that before, although I can’t say I’ve seen the same battles you have. I just sort of swing mine around.” Sango and Miroku looked at each other stunned, baffled that Inuyasha had admitted he had little skill with the sword, although they can’t say that his lack of talent had stopped him from being able to defeat his foes. Kenshin gave a slight smile before he responded.

“That was rather obvious, a monkey could probably predict your moves.” Sango and Miroku tried to suppress their laughs at the sudden insult from the practically silent man.

“What was that?!”

“What? It’s obvious that you have never needed to think tactically to defeat any opponent, or had to predict moves from your foes. Your way of fighting is different because it doesn’t have to pay attention to those details, you can swing blindly because your enemies don’t require that much effort to be defeated other than brute force. That’s how you win, you probably have to pay attention to timing a little depending on limited techniques but that’s all. You are strong, but you will never defeat a true swordsman in a fight. Their way of thinking would beat you before you make your first move.”

Everyone settled into another uncomfortable silence again while Inuyasha glared at the red haired swordsman, trying to think of something to say to the teen that had angered him. Sango shifted her eyes uncomfortably from one male to the next, Shippo had taken the opportunity to check on Kaede who was stirring from her sleep and Miroku decided to take a sudden keen interest in the empty cook pot. 

“Are you meaning to say that you would be able to defeat me?” Inuyasha snarled.

“I already did remember? Your life was spared because of Kagome-Dono and your demon blood which allows you to heal quicker than a human. If you were a normal man we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”

“You’re pretty cocky aren’t you? You want another round?!” Inuyasha was getting more and more angry and started to rise but suddenly clutched his wound and stopped midway “Damnit! This is taking too long to heal!” He shouted before he sat back down.

“I have experience in tending to sword wounds. If you let me take a look I should be able to assist in stopping the bleeding, that should make it heal at least a little bit faster.” Inuyasha stared at Kenshin for a long moment, taking in his now lilac eyes, wider and seeming more alive than when they first met but holding a deep sadness, Inuyasha felt that there was a lot of horror the young frame of a man had witnessed and that he wanted to help was a sign of still being good through those horrors.

“Fine.” He grumbled, smiling, Kenshin moved over towards the half demon and removed the blood soaked bandages, the wound was still deep and hadn’t healed much, he asked Sango and Miroku to get some fresh water and towels which they returned with almost immediately. He dipped one towel into the water and started cleaning around the wound but didn’t touch the gash, he then pulled something from a pouch on his side and added it to the water and dipped another towel into it.

“This is going to sting, it’s a salve that helps to clean wounds, it also creates a small seal on the cut which helps the blood to clot quicker and stops the bleeding, but you can’t exert yourself while it is healing or it will open back up.” Inuyasha just nodded in acknowledgment and Kenshin slowly dabbed the wet towel over the deep slash. After a minute he was done and got a fresh bandage and recovered the wound. “There, all done, usually for a human this kind of wound can take around a week to heal to the point of not reopening, then will eventually heal into a scar, but judging you to be a demon it would probably take a lot less time, I’d say with your rate of healing it’ll be fully healed in three days.”

“That’s when Kagome will get back!” Shippo called excitedly now with Kaede who had woken up completely.

“And who is this young man?” She asked as she joined the group.

“This is Himura Kenshin.” Shippo said, Kenshin bowed in greeting and Kaede did likewise.

“My name is Kaede, I am the priestess of this village. Tell me young man, where are you from? You do not appear to be from around here.”

“No, I’m from Kyoto, but from a different time, according to Kagome-Dono I am from your future, but her past.”

“I see, that is very interesting indeed. Did you perhaps come from the well?”

“Yes I remember falling down one before I woke up here, but when I tried to go back down the well I was not returned to my own time.”

“Hmm, it is quite possible that there is another well that is similar to the one we have here. The well here links Kagome’s world to our, however if you fell through one that was in Kyoto then there may be another well there in this time that you must go through to get back to your own time.”

“If that’s the case Kaede then why didn’t he arrive through that one?” Inuyasha asked. Kenshin looked to Inuyasha as he spoke then returned his gaze to the priestess questioningly.

“It is quite possible that because of the closeness of Kagome who was about to return to her own world through the well the paths were crossed and instead of arriving though the well in Kyoto he arrived though the well that was here.”

“So in order to return to my own world, I would need to travel to Kyoto.” Kenshin stated but it sounded like a question.

“It would seem so.” Kaede said.

“So, back to Kyoto then” Kenshin said, but there was a tone of sadness in his voice and he returned his gaze to the floor.


End file.
